Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Good evening folks,Still working on getting more exposure for this game, however comparing to other indie titles I've noticed my graphics seem a bit lackluster. It looks far too plain or too much color all at once. Backgrounds appear were too distracting in some areas, so I've opted for something softer yet just detailed enough to look nice.Also, I felt that some levels in Act 2 were far too easy and lacked the slight puzzle element. So some parts have changed and require some thinking to solve.

Here are some examples:

I hope to reupload the game tomorrow afternoon. In other news, I'm unable to locate a plugin for IE/Safari that allows OGG Vorbis audio playback. What I'm considering is an alternate means as just a regular download for your PC. My idea was that playing it on a browser would of been far more convenient than downloading a 83MB file.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I was unaware with IE's incompatibility with .OGG Vorbis formats. See, Construct 2 only allowed me to convert all audio files into OGG if I were to use them in my game.

Did a Google search today, and realized that this is to be true. So unless there is a specific plug in for IE(And Safari) users, you wont hear a thing. The game IS playable by all means, but no native OGG support.

I apologize for this inconvenience. Personally I would recommend a good browser like Firefox, but many IE stalwarts may not budge.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Alright! Updated demo is uploaded. There were more bugs than I expected, mostly the green slime, music, and save load states giving me the biggest headache. Mainly as I deleted some commands, I tend to miss one or two laying around messing the game up.

http://clay.io/game/baxterdemoBefore I continue, wow 3DS is getting new games, like the sequel to Zelda A Link to the Past, and Earthbound on Virtual Console. I see what you're doing Nintendo, you're trying to suck me back into your vortex of nostalgia but I know all too well it's just a temporary high!Ahem... so! Act 3 will be underway soon, I already have some nifty ideas. I'll say this, it's going to be an outdoor/cavern theme with water hazards, bees, and dirt blocks that crumble as you touch them. I'm hoping to get some cool puzzle elements compared to the last two acts. I might have a way to incorporate mock physics since Construct 2 is unable to mesh platform and physics... yet.Baxter - I want to combine a melting pot of cool gaming features from other games I liked. Soft puzzle elements like Portal, platforming mechanics like Sonic and Mario, and replay value of Angry Birds. Overall, the idea is to just have fun with this game. It isn't meant to be some revolutionary or artsy title... just something you can pick up and play, and replay... show your family and friends and talk about it on the internet. Going to take a small break and get some art done for the remaining 3 acts. Levels don't take long to make, just constructing the code blocks for making things work. Good thing I have debug rooms!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Hello gang, hope you're enjoying the demo. I want to work hard to make this game as perfect as I can.Already I'm taking notes on bugs and other things I've missed and started on revisions. This is a checklist so far:*Glide - make it to where you can glide and fall by holding and letting go of the "UP" key respectively. FIXED!*Glide collision issue - FIXED! *Touch control toggle doesn't work on Act 1 HUD - FIXED!*Issue in Act2-5 where you're unable to glide from walls - FIXED!*Collision issues with Green Slimes FIXED!*Several platform collision issues in few levels FIXED! (hopefully)*Music stopping when leaving Control, Credit, HUD layouts FIXED!*Game unable to save progress on browser*** FIXED! Thanks to C2's new save state feature.*Issue where the info bubble in Act1-1 wouldn't disappear after clicking the "X" FIXED!

Yeah as you can see, I've fixed the Glide issues and currently working on the saving problem.*Issue where Act1-Boss doesn't respawn after completion FIXED!*Issue in various levels in Act 2 where crates were unbreakable due to green slime placement. FIXED!UPDATE 4/16/13: Okay, revisions are done. I've found a few more little things I've missed first testing so I went and fixed it. Currently I'm playtesting the new demo now and should have it reuploaded soon.

Perhaps I should just call it a patch of sorts, added a victory theme to the boss levels.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

This is after many months of hard work, asking LOTS of questions, and deciding the right plan of action. I also want to give a big thank you to Austin Hollock of clay.io for helping me getting this game live! Also thanks to the Construct 2 community for every helpful response to the numerous amount of questions I've asked.

Now, to explain a few things. There are a few bugs that I need to fix, some graphical snafus, and any small tweaks before I continue the rest of the game. Only Acts One and Two are playable, everything else is locked until full release. Unfortunately, the demo doesn't seem to save progress of completed levels when you exit the browser. That is something I know I need to fix before the final release because I don't expect ANYONE to go for all gold doors, let alone beating the game and unlock the special acts in one sitting.

Oh! Don't forget to toggle touch controls for desktops. My original intention was to upload this somwhere else but they're still there if someone's tablet or phone can run this.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Demo is complete. The game has fully playable levels from both acts one and two, added some replay value with the Baxter Coin system, and also added touch controls for those who are gonna be surfing the web via phones and tablets. The touch controls can be toggled on and off in the title screen.

Even took a day off of work just to finalize everything.

Now the bad news...

My game fits all of Scirra Arcade's guidelines, except for one small detail:

"Maximum game width cannot exceed 800px."

As of a while now, my game exceeds that by 200px, seeing that on the website as I was submitting my game made my heart sank. I'm looking for other avenues I can try like Kongregate or a website that allows high bandwidth (Just incase, heh heh heh.). I mean I "could" retool the game but that would mean going through every, single, layout... and squishing things. That is quite the undertaking now that I've come so far working on this.I wish I still had my old website, but perhaps I can find something for the time being this weekend. I wanted this to be up by tonight, unfortunately I'll have to figure something out now.

UPDATE: Yeahhhh... I think I need to quit plunging ahead of myself. I was looking at the wrong file and noticed that the true game is in .zip format... at its at 82 MB. That exceeds the 10mb limit set for games at the Scirra Arcade. So now... I'm not sure what I'm going to do. This is more like 1/3 of the full game and not really a demo. Perhaps web hosting might be the way to go... ugh. Sorry for the delay, as I'm trying my hardest to make this happen, stay tuned!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Good evening folks, just dropping by to give you a heads up about the game's progress. Haven't been active as there isn't much new content to show you...

until now.

Demo is almost done, just a few minor tweaks and details as I want to get this as polished as possible before I show everyone. I'll be uploading it on the Scirra Arcade around the weekend.

Added two abilities for Baxter to use:

"Gliding" you tap the up key twice and it only works when jumping, not falling for right now. This helped create and added dynamic to the game.

"Whiplash" Baxter creates a horizontal tail attack that can be used to smash obstacles, trigger switches, etc. Unfortunately you can't really kill anything with it but I plan on having it for other uses.

"Green slime puddle" not only increases your speed, but I've made it where you can demolish crates with it. Why? Because with the glide feature, it made green slimes pointless for running-long jumps.

"Baxter coins" If I neglected to mention, this is my idea for replay value. Like some games you are expected to get three gold stars, you collect 20 gold coins with Baxter's face on it and the completed stage turns to gold. Usually, the levels stay red until you do so.